1 00:00:02,008 --> 00:00:03,594 NARRATOR: Can this weird shattered skull 2 00:00:03,698 --> 00:00:05,525 illuminate the human soul? 3 00:00:05,629 --> 00:00:07,560 There were changes that made him essentially 4 00:00:07,663 --> 00:00:11,111 a worse person, less in control of his impulses. 5 00:00:11,215 --> 00:00:12,767 NARRATOR: Could this bizarre device 6 00:00:12,870 --> 00:00:14,732 have changed World War II? 7 00:00:14,836 --> 00:00:16,629 The deadly power of this device 8 00:00:16,732 --> 00:00:18,732 comes not from radioactive material 9 00:00:18,836 --> 00:00:20,215 or from high explosives. 10 00:00:21,663 --> 00:00:23,732 It comes from bats. 11 00:00:23,836 --> 00:00:27,663 NARRATOR: What makes this odd scrap of deer antler so strange? 12 00:00:27,767 --> 00:00:30,594 You could call it the Swiss Army knife of prehistory. 13 00:00:35,939 --> 00:00:37,663 NARRATOR: These are the most remarkable 14 00:00:37,767 --> 00:00:39,698 and mysterious objects on Earth, 15 00:00:41,043 --> 00:00:46,836 hidden away in museums, laboratories, and storage rooms. 16 00:00:46,939 --> 00:00:49,422 Now, new research and technology 17 00:00:49,525 --> 00:00:50,836 can get under their skin 18 00:00:52,077 --> 00:00:53,836 like never before. 19 00:00:53,939 --> 00:00:55,491 We can rebuild them, 20 00:00:57,629 --> 00:00:58,732 pull them apart, 21 00:01:00,111 --> 00:01:02,698 and zoom in to reveal 22 00:01:02,801 --> 00:01:05,732 the unbelievable, the ancient, 23 00:01:07,215 --> 00:01:08,905 and the truly bizarre. 24 00:01:11,249 --> 00:01:14,836 These are the world's strangest things. 25 00:01:24,284 --> 00:01:26,629 In a display case at Harvard University's 26 00:01:26,732 --> 00:01:28,525 Warren Anatomical Museum 27 00:01:28,629 --> 00:01:32,663 is one of the most astonishing objects in medical science. 28 00:01:32,767 --> 00:01:34,525 This is the shattered skull of 29 00:01:34,629 --> 00:01:37,249 a 19th century American railway worker. 30 00:01:38,629 --> 00:01:40,974 When you look closely, you can clearly 31 00:01:41,077 --> 00:01:44,043 see that something truly catastrophic has happened here. 32 00:01:44,146 --> 00:01:47,215 NARRATOR: Now, using state-of-the-art 3-D modeling, 33 00:01:47,318 --> 00:01:49,422 we can investigate this strange relic 34 00:01:49,525 --> 00:01:50,698 like never before. 35 00:01:53,870 --> 00:01:56,318 This is Gage's skull. 36 00:01:56,422 --> 00:01:59,284 It shows evidence of a truly traumatic injury. 37 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,043 There are two sections of the skull missing. 38 00:02:07,008 --> 00:02:10,318 There are also cracks sprawling from those lesions. 39 00:02:11,698 --> 00:02:13,525 There's also damage behind the left 40 00:02:13,629 --> 00:02:15,077 eye socket and in the cheek bone. 41 00:02:17,111 --> 00:02:20,180 BENECKE: When we see such a wound in a forensic context, 42 00:02:20,284 --> 00:02:23,801 we can almost certainly be sure that this is nothing that 43 00:02:23,905 --> 00:02:25,180 a person can survive. 44 00:02:27,111 --> 00:02:30,836 NARRATOR: Incredibly, Phineas Gage does survive, 45 00:02:30,939 --> 00:02:34,491 but he is a completely different person. 46 00:02:34,594 --> 00:02:36,560 It is a revelation. 47 00:02:36,663 --> 00:02:39,249 STEELE: The bizarre case of Phineas Gage taught us something 48 00:02:39,353 --> 00:02:41,801 fundamental about the way that the human brain works. 49 00:02:43,008 --> 00:02:43,939 WEST: For the first time, 50 00:02:44,043 --> 00:02:47,077 you see that relationship between who we are 51 00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:49,905 and that meaty thing inside our skulls. 52 00:02:51,939 --> 00:02:53,974 NARRATOR: How does this injury happen? 53 00:02:54,077 --> 00:02:57,801 Why doesn't such traumatic skull damage kill Gage? 54 00:02:57,905 --> 00:03:02,525 Can the skull explain his dramatic personality change, 55 00:03:02,629 --> 00:03:06,387 and why is it such a game changer for neuroscience? 56 00:03:12,387 --> 00:03:17,456 September 13th, 1848, Vermont, USA. 57 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,663 [train whistle blows] 58 00:03:19,767 --> 00:03:21,732 AUERBACH: This is a time of rapid 59 00:03:21,836 --> 00:03:25,077 railroad expansion in America. 60 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:27,525 In Vermont, construction is underway of what 61 00:03:27,629 --> 00:03:30,456 is to be the Rutland Burlington Railway. 62 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:31,560 [explosion blasts] 63 00:03:31,663 --> 00:03:33,663 NARRATOR: Phineas Gage's job is to prep 64 00:03:33,767 --> 00:03:36,146 explosives to clear the rocky landscape. 65 00:03:37,525 --> 00:03:39,905 He uses a metal tamping iron 66 00:03:40,008 --> 00:03:43,870 to compress the gunpowder into drill holes. 67 00:03:43,974 --> 00:03:48,663 So Phineas is tamping down the gunpowder, as is normal, 68 00:03:48,767 --> 00:03:50,870 and he turns to speak 69 00:03:50,974 --> 00:03:54,939 to some men behind him, which brings his head directly above 70 00:03:55,043 --> 00:03:56,801 the hole full of gunpowder. 71 00:03:58,043 --> 00:04:01,043 The tamping iron strikes a spark on the rock... 72 00:04:03,111 --> 00:04:04,767 detonating that gunpowder. 73 00:04:08,180 --> 00:04:11,767 NARRATOR: The tamping iron becomes a lethal projectile. 74 00:04:11,870 --> 00:04:15,491 And it fires the tamping rod right up into his skull. 75 00:04:18,939 --> 00:04:20,939 The rather grisly path this tamping iron 76 00:04:21,043 --> 00:04:22,836 took was up behind his left eye, 77 00:04:24,698 --> 00:04:25,870 then out the top of his head, 78 00:04:25,974 --> 00:04:28,387 where it just continued off up and behind him. 79 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:33,043 NARRATOR: The bloodied iron rod lands 25 yards away. 80 00:04:34,422 --> 00:04:38,180 Gage is thrown to the ground, a gaping hole in his head. 81 00:04:40,077 --> 00:04:43,560 It's reported that his arms and legs spasmed for a while, 82 00:04:43,663 --> 00:04:47,698 but after a few minutes, he's sitting up and talking, 83 00:04:47,801 --> 00:04:49,318 and eventually, they're able to load 84 00:04:49,422 --> 00:04:53,353 him into a cart and take him back to his hotel. 85 00:04:53,456 --> 00:04:56,249 It's pretty remarkable for someone who has a 13-pound 86 00:04:56,353 --> 00:04:58,491 iron rod driven all the way through their skull. 87 00:05:00,008 --> 00:05:03,215 NARRATOR: 30 minutes later, Gage is visited by physician 88 00:05:03,318 --> 00:05:04,801 Edward H. Williams. 89 00:05:06,905 --> 00:05:08,939 AUERBACH: Phineas begins to vomit. 90 00:05:09,043 --> 00:05:13,043 The effort of throwing up apparently dislodges a piece of 91 00:05:13,146 --> 00:05:14,732 brain tissue, which is pushed out 92 00:05:14,836 --> 00:05:16,284 the hole at the top of his head 93 00:05:16,387 --> 00:05:18,077 and lands at the feet of the physician. 94 00:05:19,939 --> 00:05:22,043 NARRATOR: Gage's case is taken over by 95 00:05:22,146 --> 00:05:23,767 local doctor, John Harlow. 96 00:05:23,870 --> 00:05:28,249 He was able to put one finger through the top of his skull 97 00:05:28,353 --> 00:05:30,525 and a second finger through the hole in his cheek 98 00:05:30,629 --> 00:05:32,801 and make them touch in the middle. 99 00:05:32,905 --> 00:05:35,836 BENECKE: He had to remove part of the brain that was just 100 00:05:35,939 --> 00:05:39,284 attached with the tiny tissue bridge, and at least 101 00:05:39,387 --> 00:05:42,043 he could bring some parts of the skin and put 102 00:05:42,146 --> 00:05:44,353 a bandage and wrap it around the head. 103 00:05:45,594 --> 00:05:48,008 NARRATOR: Gage slips in and out of consciousness. 104 00:05:48,111 --> 00:05:52,146 AUERBACH: He had a fungal growth on his exposed brain tissue, 105 00:05:52,249 --> 00:05:54,663 and that pus was forming in the wound, 106 00:05:54,767 --> 00:05:56,732 even dripping into Phineas's mouth. 107 00:05:57,974 --> 00:06:00,387 NARRATOR: Gage is not expected to survive. 108 00:06:00,491 --> 00:06:02,801 His family prepare a coffin for him. 109 00:06:05,008 --> 00:06:06,663 AUERBACH: Phineas is a very lucky man, 110 00:06:06,767 --> 00:06:09,732 because his physician applies silver nitrate, which is 111 00:06:09,836 --> 00:06:12,180 a substance that had just recently been introduced to try 112 00:06:12,284 --> 00:06:14,491 to halt the infection, 113 00:06:14,594 --> 00:06:15,870 and it actually works. 114 00:06:15,974 --> 00:06:18,249 After a few days, Phineas starts to recover. 115 00:06:19,767 --> 00:06:22,629 NARRATOR: By the middle of the following year, 1849, 116 00:06:22,732 --> 00:06:25,043 Gage is strong enough to return to work. 117 00:06:26,387 --> 00:06:29,732 This massive injury should have been lethal. 118 00:06:29,836 --> 00:06:31,905 Does this skull hold the secret 119 00:06:32,008 --> 00:06:33,663 to his miraculous survival? 120 00:06:39,836 --> 00:06:44,663 In 2012, neuroimaging experts recreate Gage's brain by 121 00:06:44,767 --> 00:06:48,732 combining CT scans of the broken skull with MRI scans 122 00:06:48,836 --> 00:06:50,594 of typical male brains. 123 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,387 It shows the hole in the top of Gage's skull is 124 00:06:55,491 --> 00:06:56,698 astonishingly neat, 125 00:06:56,801 --> 00:06:59,629 considering the force pushing the iron bar out. 126 00:06:59,732 --> 00:07:02,560 Maybe that's because his bar is unique. 127 00:07:02,663 --> 00:07:06,215 AUERBACH: Phineas has a custom-made tamping iron. 128 00:07:06,318 --> 00:07:08,663 He's had a local blacksmith put it together. 129 00:07:08,767 --> 00:07:11,732 It weighs over 13 pounds, 130 00:07:11,836 --> 00:07:15,732 and it tapers to a narrow point at one end. 131 00:07:15,836 --> 00:07:18,077 It's a bit like a javelin. 132 00:07:18,180 --> 00:07:20,318 What that meant was this tiny point was able to push 133 00:07:20,422 --> 00:07:22,525 the brain and the skull smoothly out of the way, 134 00:07:22,629 --> 00:07:24,663 making a smaller, smoother hole, 135 00:07:24,767 --> 00:07:26,284 so there's less smash damage. 136 00:07:30,629 --> 00:07:32,767 NARRATOR: But the recent analysis of Gage's skull 137 00:07:32,870 --> 00:07:36,767 reveals something even more miraculous about his survival. 138 00:07:36,870 --> 00:07:38,629 There are these huge blood vessels on 139 00:07:38,732 --> 00:07:40,111 the left and the right of your head. 140 00:07:40,215 --> 00:07:44,353 So since this giant needle entered laterally on the side, 141 00:07:44,456 --> 00:07:47,353 it's just a matter of a hundredth of an inch 142 00:07:47,456 --> 00:07:50,870 that these blood vessels were not disrupted and disturbed. 143 00:07:50,974 --> 00:07:53,525 That was plain luck. 144 00:07:53,629 --> 00:07:54,629 In my whole life, 145 00:07:54,732 --> 00:07:58,008 I've probably seen maybe five of those cases 146 00:07:58,111 --> 00:08:00,491 that were actually survived by the patients. 147 00:08:02,111 --> 00:08:04,249 NARRATOR: But following his incredible survival, 148 00:08:04,353 --> 00:08:06,284 friends claimed Gage has become 149 00:08:06,387 --> 00:08:09,318 quite literally a different man. 150 00:08:09,422 --> 00:08:11,422 Is the explanation for this bizarre 151 00:08:11,525 --> 00:08:16,077 transformation also hidden inside this fractured skull? 152 00:08:26,870 --> 00:08:29,629 NARRATOR: After a heavy iron bar shoots through his skull, 153 00:08:29,732 --> 00:08:33,698 Phineas Gage miraculously recovers, but when he attempts 154 00:08:33,801 --> 00:08:35,836 to return to his old job on the railroad, 155 00:08:35,939 --> 00:08:37,732 he is turned away. 156 00:08:37,836 --> 00:08:39,974 It's reported that the balance 157 00:08:40,077 --> 00:08:42,870 between his intellectual faculties and his animal 158 00:08:42,974 --> 00:08:45,905 propensities seems to have been destroyed. 159 00:08:46,008 --> 00:08:50,353 He is fitful, irreverent, and indulging at times in 160 00:08:50,456 --> 00:08:52,077 the grossest profanity. 161 00:08:52,180 --> 00:08:55,249 There were changes that made him essentially a worse person, 162 00:08:55,353 --> 00:08:57,318 someone who was less in control of 163 00:08:57,422 --> 00:09:00,560 his impulses and less pleasant to be around. 164 00:09:00,663 --> 00:09:02,629 NARRATOR: The dependable, easygoing Gage 165 00:09:02,732 --> 00:09:04,146 has been wiped out. 166 00:09:04,249 --> 00:09:07,836 He has been transformed into someone very different -- 167 00:09:07,939 --> 00:09:11,456 stubborn, temperamental, insolent. 168 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:15,077 His friends and acquaintances say he is no longer Gage. 169 00:09:15,180 --> 00:09:16,353 For centuries, 170 00:09:16,456 --> 00:09:18,215 there'd been a debate about whether our bodies were all 171 00:09:18,318 --> 00:09:20,939 there was to us or if we had this immortal soul that was 172 00:09:21,043 --> 00:09:23,732 somehow separate and encapsulated our personality. 173 00:09:23,836 --> 00:09:26,215 WEST: For people back then, it must have been really quite 174 00:09:26,318 --> 00:09:29,663 a shock to realize that you could change a personality. 175 00:09:29,767 --> 00:09:33,525 This supposedly invisible, intangible thing can be changed 176 00:09:33,629 --> 00:09:35,905 by knocking out a piece of something physical. 177 00:09:38,249 --> 00:09:40,387 NARRATOR: The analysis of Gage's skull reveals 178 00:09:40,491 --> 00:09:43,146 the precise location of the damage to his brain. 179 00:09:44,663 --> 00:09:46,353 AUERBACH: The part of Phineas's brain that has been damaged is 180 00:09:46,456 --> 00:09:49,456 the left side of the prefrontal cortex, 181 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:52,284 in the part of the brain known as the frontal lobe. 182 00:09:52,387 --> 00:09:54,974 This part of the brain is not fully developed 183 00:09:55,077 --> 00:09:58,077 and connected in little kids and small children, 184 00:09:58,180 --> 00:10:03,146 and this is why their behavior and their consciousness is 185 00:10:03,249 --> 00:10:06,353 different from that of an adult person. 186 00:10:06,456 --> 00:10:08,801 WEST: Generally, it's accepted that the prefrontal cortex, 187 00:10:08,905 --> 00:10:11,043 that bit at the front that poor Phineas Gage 188 00:10:11,146 --> 00:10:12,422 was unfortunate enough to have, 189 00:10:12,525 --> 00:10:14,422 you know, a chunk of it knocked out of his head, 190 00:10:14,525 --> 00:10:17,698 that this is generally regarded as the area that's in 191 00:10:17,801 --> 00:10:20,698 charge of our higher level thinking and of impulse control. 192 00:10:23,215 --> 00:10:24,801 And, if you think about it, 193 00:10:24,905 --> 00:10:27,663 that's really what makes us pleasant to be around 194 00:10:27,767 --> 00:10:30,456 and capable of functioning in society with other people. 195 00:10:34,767 --> 00:10:36,663 NARRATOR: But there's another unexpected twist 196 00:10:36,767 --> 00:10:38,629 to the story of Phineas Gage. 197 00:10:39,974 --> 00:10:42,249 NARRATOR: He later holds down a number of jobs, 198 00:10:42,353 --> 00:10:45,284 some of which require significant focus and patience, 199 00:10:45,387 --> 00:10:47,801 exactly the skills that are apparently erased when 200 00:10:47,905 --> 00:10:51,008 the iron bar rips through his prefrontal cortex. 201 00:10:53,353 --> 00:10:57,594 So is the story of his radical personality change even true? 202 00:11:01,525 --> 00:11:04,077 In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the changes 203 00:11:04,180 --> 00:11:07,077 to Phineas Gage's personality and his ability to focus 204 00:11:07,180 --> 00:11:09,387 on work, basically, caused him to lose his job. 205 00:11:09,491 --> 00:11:10,663 But just a few years later, 206 00:11:10,767 --> 00:11:12,594 he was holding down gainful employment. 207 00:11:12,698 --> 00:11:16,146 AUERBACH: He eventually got a job as a stagecoach driver, 208 00:11:16,249 --> 00:11:19,077 and this is a job that requires 209 00:11:19,180 --> 00:11:21,491 a pretty extensive skill set. 210 00:11:21,594 --> 00:11:24,525 The task of driving a stagecoach requires incredible 211 00:11:24,629 --> 00:11:27,594 motor control, incredible cognitive function. 212 00:11:27,698 --> 00:11:29,974 AUERBACH: You have to have pretty good judgment, 213 00:11:30,077 --> 00:11:31,594 you have to have agility, 214 00:11:31,698 --> 00:11:33,870 you have to have the ability to care for 215 00:11:33,974 --> 00:11:35,525 and understand animals. 216 00:11:35,629 --> 00:11:37,870 You also have to have the ability to deal well 217 00:11:37,974 --> 00:11:40,525 socially with passengers on trips 218 00:11:40,629 --> 00:11:42,801 that often last hundreds of miles. 219 00:11:44,249 --> 00:11:46,353 NARRATOR: This reads like a list of the skills 220 00:11:46,456 --> 00:11:49,698 apparently erased from Gage's personality by the accident. 221 00:11:51,249 --> 00:11:53,422 So is the story of Gage's radical 222 00:11:53,525 --> 00:11:56,422 personality transformation just a tall tale? 223 00:11:59,043 --> 00:12:01,905 WEST: The brain is not only an incredibly complex bit of 224 00:12:02,008 --> 00:12:04,801 machinery inside of us, but it's also a very flexible 225 00:12:04,905 --> 00:12:07,456 bit of machinery in that if parts of it are damaged, 226 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:09,663 parts of it are removed, it can reorganize, 227 00:12:09,767 --> 00:12:11,284 rearrange itself, and some bits 228 00:12:11,387 --> 00:12:13,939 can take over functions that other bits used to do. 229 00:12:15,732 --> 00:12:18,870 STEELE: Psychologist Malcolm MacMillan has written 230 00:12:18,974 --> 00:12:20,732 extensively about Gage's story, and he argues that 231 00:12:20,836 --> 00:12:23,077 his brain must have regained a lot of that social 232 00:12:23,180 --> 00:12:24,525 and cognitive function. 233 00:12:26,111 --> 00:12:29,974 NARRATOR: Recent research in 2019 suggests Gage's recovery 234 00:12:30,077 --> 00:12:32,491 can be explained by the way the brain automatically 235 00:12:32,594 --> 00:12:34,836 reorganizes itself. 236 00:12:34,939 --> 00:12:37,801 What's really astonishing about this is the regenerative 237 00:12:37,905 --> 00:12:41,008 capacity of the brain -- it can rewire itself 238 00:12:41,111 --> 00:12:42,560 to pick up many of the functions of 239 00:12:42,663 --> 00:12:45,043 the missing parts of the brain, and people with even quite 240 00:12:45,146 --> 00:12:46,560 substantial amounts of physical 241 00:12:46,663 --> 00:12:50,732 brain lost can go on to live relatively normal lives. 242 00:12:50,836 --> 00:12:54,215 NARRATOR: And 3D imaging also reveals that most of the damage 243 00:12:54,318 --> 00:12:56,146 seems to be to the white matter 244 00:12:56,249 --> 00:12:58,422 of Gage's brain rather than the gray matter. 245 00:13:00,077 --> 00:13:01,629 This could be key to 246 00:13:01,732 --> 00:13:04,594 explaining his miraculous psychological recovery. 247 00:13:04,698 --> 00:13:07,077 Gray matter doesn't grow back well, 248 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:10,249 but white matter can regenerate. 249 00:13:10,353 --> 00:13:13,939 It's this combination of Gage's incredible good fortune 250 00:13:14,043 --> 00:13:16,318 in terms of the trajectory of the tamping iron 251 00:13:16,422 --> 00:13:19,456 and the brain's incredible regenerative ability that seems 252 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:22,422 to have combined to allow him a few years later to go back, 253 00:13:22,525 --> 00:13:25,353 not just to surviving, but to thriving, to having 254 00:13:25,456 --> 00:13:27,629 a relatively normal life, to holding down a job, 255 00:13:27,732 --> 00:13:30,594 to performing almost normally in society 256 00:13:30,698 --> 00:13:32,767 in spite of this very, very nearly completely 257 00:13:32,870 --> 00:13:33,836 fatal accident. 258 00:13:36,008 --> 00:13:39,215 It's recently been suggested that Gage's personality change 259 00:13:39,318 --> 00:13:41,629 may only last for two or three years. 260 00:13:42,939 --> 00:13:45,939 Despite that, the accident does kill him, 261 00:13:46,043 --> 00:13:48,284 it just takes 11 years to do it. 262 00:13:50,043 --> 00:13:53,698 In 1860, following a series of severe epileptic seizures, 263 00:13:53,801 --> 00:13:55,663 likely resulting from the accident, 264 00:13:55,767 --> 00:13:57,318 Phineas Gage dies. 265 00:13:59,043 --> 00:14:01,146 He is just 36 years old, 266 00:14:02,663 --> 00:14:04,387 but he changes the world. 267 00:14:07,870 --> 00:14:12,215 The case is still in every neuroanatomical textbook, 268 00:14:12,318 --> 00:14:14,905 and medical students would certainly learn about the case. 269 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:18,180 The Phineas Gage case is taught 270 00:14:18,284 --> 00:14:19,801 to all first year undergraduate 271 00:14:19,905 --> 00:14:21,111 psychology students. 272 00:14:21,215 --> 00:14:23,318 It's taught as the beginning of the understanding of 273 00:14:23,422 --> 00:14:26,801 the relationship between brain structures and personality 274 00:14:26,905 --> 00:14:28,732 and who we are. 275 00:14:28,836 --> 00:14:31,974 NARRATOR: This one skull and its unfortunate owner has 276 00:14:32,077 --> 00:14:36,284 literally transformed our insight into the human soul 277 00:14:36,387 --> 00:14:37,698 and the nature of humanity. 278 00:14:47,663 --> 00:14:50,456 Once locked away by the U.S. military and now 279 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,905 lost is one of the strangest weapons ever made. 280 00:14:55,353 --> 00:14:58,560 The destructive power of this device could destroy a city. 281 00:14:59,939 --> 00:15:03,249 NARRATOR: But how it does this is completely bizarre. 282 00:15:04,732 --> 00:15:07,249 Now, using state-of-the-art digital imaging, 283 00:15:08,594 --> 00:15:14,008 we can reveal every detail of this remarkable device. 284 00:15:14,111 --> 00:15:16,146 Code-named Project X-ray, 285 00:15:16,249 --> 00:15:19,905 it is quite literally born in the fires of World War II. 286 00:15:20,008 --> 00:15:22,594 There has never been a weapon like it, before 287 00:15:22,698 --> 00:15:25,353 or since, and there's a very good reason for that. 288 00:15:26,732 --> 00:15:28,560 NARRATOR: Around five feet in length, 289 00:15:28,663 --> 00:15:30,905 the giveaway is its cylindrical body 290 00:15:31,008 --> 00:15:33,284 is perforated with tiny air holes 291 00:15:33,387 --> 00:15:36,284 for its tiny passengers. 292 00:15:36,387 --> 00:15:38,318 AUERBACH: The deadly power of this device comes 293 00:15:38,422 --> 00:15:41,353 not from radioactive material or from high explosives. 294 00:15:43,732 --> 00:15:45,491 It comes from bats. 295 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,801 NARRATOR: This is the bat bomb. 296 00:15:51,905 --> 00:15:53,732 This has to number among 297 00:15:53,836 --> 00:15:56,111 the weirdest inventions of the Second World War. 298 00:15:56,215 --> 00:15:58,387 NARRATOR: Who comes up with it? 299 00:15:58,491 --> 00:16:01,008 Why bats? 300 00:16:01,111 --> 00:16:04,146 How is this bizarre device supposed to function? 301 00:16:04,249 --> 00:16:06,284 And does it really work? 302 00:16:16,111 --> 00:16:19,974 NARRATOR: By the end of 1941, America is at war with Japan. 303 00:16:21,456 --> 00:16:22,974 The bat bomb is designed to 304 00:16:23,077 --> 00:16:26,215 help America strike back after Pearl Harbor. 305 00:16:26,318 --> 00:16:29,491 The shell looks like any other bomb, but inside it, 306 00:16:29,594 --> 00:16:31,801 there are lots of tiny trays. 307 00:16:31,905 --> 00:16:35,043 Within one of these trays, there are up to 40 bats. 308 00:16:36,318 --> 00:16:37,318 In the whole of the bomb, 309 00:16:37,422 --> 00:16:40,560 there are 1,000 bats, and on each bat, 310 00:16:40,663 --> 00:16:42,215 there is a tiny, deadly device. 311 00:16:43,663 --> 00:16:45,732 NARRATOR: These devices are the secret to 312 00:16:45,836 --> 00:16:49,422 the bomb's potential, because they don't use high explosives. 313 00:16:49,525 --> 00:16:52,111 A bunch of tiny explosives, even thousands carried 314 00:16:52,215 --> 00:16:54,836 by a bat really isn't gonna do much damage. 315 00:16:54,939 --> 00:16:59,077 The goal is not to blow things up -- it's to start fires. 316 00:17:04,249 --> 00:17:06,974 NARRATOR: The bat bomb targets a specific weakness of 317 00:17:07,077 --> 00:17:08,249 Japanese cities. 318 00:17:08,353 --> 00:17:10,836 MARKS: Most houses were made of wood, 319 00:17:10,939 --> 00:17:12,422 and they were densely packed together. 320 00:17:13,732 --> 00:17:16,905 If you were to start a fire in just a few houses, 321 00:17:17,008 --> 00:17:19,422 the whole city could go up in flames. 322 00:17:19,525 --> 00:17:20,870 NARRATOR: The bombs will be dropped from 323 00:17:20,974 --> 00:17:24,077 an aircraft high above the target city. 324 00:17:24,180 --> 00:17:26,732 It will be loaded with sleeping bats, 325 00:17:26,836 --> 00:17:29,663 each armed with a tiny incendiary device. 326 00:17:30,939 --> 00:17:33,387 At 1,000 feet, parachutes deploy, 327 00:17:33,491 --> 00:17:35,146 and the outer casing falls away. 328 00:17:36,353 --> 00:17:41,008 Once the parachute opens, the trays space out, 329 00:17:41,111 --> 00:17:45,249 and they hang in a column about 8 and 1/2 feet long, 330 00:17:45,353 --> 00:17:48,836 NARRATOR: Exposed to the warmer air, the bats start to wake. 331 00:17:48,939 --> 00:17:51,491 BENECKE: As soon as they were flying out, 332 00:17:51,594 --> 00:17:53,801 they were ripping the safety pin off, 333 00:17:54,905 --> 00:17:57,008 and it set off a time delay fuse. 334 00:17:58,422 --> 00:18:00,043 NARRATOR: The designer calculates that 335 00:18:00,146 --> 00:18:02,594 with a 30 minute delay, the bats can cover 336 00:18:02,698 --> 00:18:04,905 an area 40 miles in diameter. 337 00:18:06,974 --> 00:18:08,111 At the time, 338 00:18:08,215 --> 00:18:12,249 a cluster of six U.S. M69 incendiary bombs might start 339 00:18:12,353 --> 00:18:14,077 160 fires, 340 00:18:14,180 --> 00:18:17,077 but the same weight of bat bombs could start almost 341 00:18:17,180 --> 00:18:18,974 4,800 fires. 342 00:18:20,353 --> 00:18:23,870 So the plan is that bats are going to burn 343 00:18:23,974 --> 00:18:25,215 Japanese cities down 344 00:18:25,318 --> 00:18:27,974 and this is going to be the decisive blow 345 00:18:28,077 --> 00:18:29,215 in the war for the Pacific. 346 00:18:31,043 --> 00:18:33,422 NARRATOR: Who comes up with the crazy idea 347 00:18:33,525 --> 00:18:36,180 of using a bat as a war machine? 348 00:18:39,974 --> 00:18:42,525 MARKS: One of the strangest things about this is that, 349 00:18:42,629 --> 00:18:44,077 unlike many other weapons, 350 00:18:44,180 --> 00:18:48,008 it's not devised in some kind of special military laboratory. 351 00:18:48,111 --> 00:18:51,111 It's dreamt up instead by a dentist. 352 00:18:51,215 --> 00:18:54,353 NARRATOR: His name is Lytle S. Adams. 353 00:18:54,456 --> 00:18:57,732 AUERBACH: In 1941, he makes a trip to Carlsbad Caverns in 354 00:18:57,836 --> 00:18:59,698 the U.S., and he reports 355 00:18:59,801 --> 00:19:03,663 being fascinated by these swarms of bats 356 00:19:03,767 --> 00:19:07,249 that came streaming out of the caverns at sundown. 357 00:19:07,353 --> 00:19:08,870 When Adams is driving back, 358 00:19:08,974 --> 00:19:11,249 he hears about Pearl Harbor on the radio. 359 00:19:11,353 --> 00:19:14,698 Having just seen the bats, he thinks to himself, what if 360 00:19:14,801 --> 00:19:17,525 each of those bats had a tiny incendiary device? 361 00:19:17,629 --> 00:19:20,525 You could really devastate the enemy cities in Japan. 362 00:19:22,870 --> 00:19:24,629 NARRATOR: It sounds crazy, 363 00:19:24,732 --> 00:19:26,974 but in the desperate circumstances of war, 364 00:19:27,077 --> 00:19:30,111 the military are prepared to try almost anything that can 365 00:19:30,215 --> 00:19:33,387 give them an edge, no matter how weird. 366 00:19:33,491 --> 00:19:35,560 The Second World War is littered 367 00:19:35,663 --> 00:19:40,491 with these outlandish and exotic ideas about weapons. 368 00:19:40,594 --> 00:19:43,698 NARRATOR: One of the most outrageous appears in 1943. 369 00:19:44,974 --> 00:19:47,077 The British Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons 370 00:19:47,180 --> 00:19:48,732 Development is asked to dream up 371 00:19:48,836 --> 00:19:51,663 a way to penetrate the concrete coastal defenses of 372 00:19:51,767 --> 00:19:53,284 the Nazis' Atlantic wall. 373 00:19:55,456 --> 00:19:59,043 What they come up with is a self-propelled bomb, 374 00:19:59,146 --> 00:20:00,939 the Panjandrum. 375 00:20:01,043 --> 00:20:04,008 The Panjandrum is a very freakish-looking device, 376 00:20:04,111 --> 00:20:05,939 but it's a pretty basic concept. 377 00:20:06,043 --> 00:20:09,318 You just put rockets on the edges of the wheels, like 378 00:20:09,422 --> 00:20:11,353 a Catherine wheel, and you light 379 00:20:11,456 --> 00:20:14,249 the rockets, and it sort of fires itself towards the enemy, 380 00:20:14,353 --> 00:20:15,836 creating a breach in their lines. 381 00:20:15,939 --> 00:20:18,698 NARRATOR: Despite the top secret nature of the project, 382 00:20:18,801 --> 00:20:20,939 the beach chosen as a test site turns 383 00:20:21,043 --> 00:20:23,905 out to be a popular destination for holidaymakers. 384 00:20:24,008 --> 00:20:27,146 So these top secret tests end up 385 00:20:27,249 --> 00:20:31,422 happening to an audience of holiday goers. 386 00:20:31,525 --> 00:20:33,249 They light the rockets in the Panjandrum, 387 00:20:34,974 --> 00:20:37,077 and everything goes wrong almost from the get-go. 388 00:20:37,180 --> 00:20:40,525 The rockets start to dislodge themselves, flying off in 389 00:20:40,629 --> 00:20:42,215 different directions. 390 00:20:42,318 --> 00:20:45,422 Meanwhile, the device itself just careens across the beach. 391 00:20:46,905 --> 00:20:50,215 NARRATOR: Unsurprisingly, the Panjandrum never sees battle, 392 00:20:50,318 --> 00:20:53,043 but the military probably thought it was worth a try. 393 00:20:54,318 --> 00:20:56,801 The problem is, the military can't afford to 394 00:20:56,905 --> 00:20:59,905 ignore these ideas just because they seem outlandish 395 00:21:00,008 --> 00:21:01,422 at first glance. 396 00:21:01,525 --> 00:21:04,387 At some point, one of these is going to work. 397 00:21:05,939 --> 00:21:07,698 NARRATOR: One of the most extraordinary is 398 00:21:07,801 --> 00:21:11,146 a weapon designed to destroy hydroelectric dams. 399 00:21:12,491 --> 00:21:14,836 It's based on the idea of skimming stones. 400 00:21:17,146 --> 00:21:18,974 The bouncing bomb. 401 00:21:19,077 --> 00:21:23,560 The idea is that you fly your bombers down at a precise speed 402 00:21:23,663 --> 00:21:24,905 and a precise height, 403 00:21:25,008 --> 00:21:27,939 usually quite low, and you release a bomb that immediately 404 00:21:28,043 --> 00:21:30,387 starts to spin opposite of 405 00:21:30,491 --> 00:21:32,456 the direction that the plane is traveling. 406 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,146 So when it hits the water, instead of sinking, 407 00:21:36,249 --> 00:21:39,525 it bounces, and it skips quite a considerable distance. 408 00:21:39,629 --> 00:21:42,767 And if you drop it at just the right place at just 409 00:21:42,870 --> 00:21:45,491 the right speed, it'll skip, skip, skip... 410 00:21:47,387 --> 00:21:50,180 and then crash into the face of the dam. 411 00:21:52,008 --> 00:21:54,767 NARRATOR: On the 16th of May 1943, 412 00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:59,111 19 Lancaster bombers take off to Bomb three German dams. 413 00:22:03,836 --> 00:22:08,215 It's a costly operation, but it's a very successful one. 414 00:22:08,318 --> 00:22:11,008 Two out of three dams attacked are completely destroyed. 415 00:22:15,801 --> 00:22:18,629 NARRATOR: In 1942, the bat bomb is born. 416 00:22:18,732 --> 00:22:21,387 Its codename is Project X-ray. 417 00:22:22,629 --> 00:22:25,043 Will it turn out to be as successful as 418 00:22:25,146 --> 00:22:29,111 the bouncing bomb or as disastrous as the Panjandrum? 419 00:22:30,422 --> 00:22:33,629 Why does Adams believe bats can make the difference? 420 00:22:41,974 --> 00:22:43,249 NARRATOR: In World War Two, 421 00:22:43,353 --> 00:22:45,767 the safest time to bomb is at night, 422 00:22:45,870 --> 00:22:47,939 to avoid enemy fighters and guns. 423 00:22:48,043 --> 00:22:51,422 Gravity bombing is inaccurate at best, 424 00:22:51,525 --> 00:22:53,870 especially if you do it at night, which is when 425 00:22:53,974 --> 00:22:55,836 the U.S. Air Force likes to operate, because 426 00:22:55,939 --> 00:22:57,663 you have less chance of getting shot down. 427 00:22:57,767 --> 00:23:00,422 NARRATOR: It's hard for bombers to hit anything, 428 00:23:00,525 --> 00:23:02,905 because humans can't see in the dark. 429 00:23:03,008 --> 00:23:05,284 But bats can. 430 00:23:05,387 --> 00:23:08,077 BENECKE: Bats can orient during nighttime, because they 431 00:23:08,180 --> 00:23:10,111 send off soundwaves, and those soundwaves come back, 432 00:23:10,215 --> 00:23:13,180 and they can interpret the pattern of 433 00:23:13,284 --> 00:23:15,043 what is in front of them. 434 00:23:15,146 --> 00:23:19,663 Bats use their night sound vision system to go back 435 00:23:19,767 --> 00:23:21,629 and forth from roosting sites, 436 00:23:21,732 --> 00:23:25,180 but also to hunt mostly insects, moths, etcetera. 437 00:23:26,525 --> 00:23:27,836 NARRATOR: And where they like to rest 438 00:23:27,939 --> 00:23:30,043 is another advantage for a bat bomb. 439 00:23:30,146 --> 00:23:32,456 MARKS: The idea is that they drop it just before dawn, 440 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,663 so that the bats immediately want to find 441 00:23:34,767 --> 00:23:37,836 somewhere to nestle, somewhere just like the eaves of a house. 442 00:23:40,180 --> 00:23:42,870 So the fire would spread before anybody 443 00:23:42,974 --> 00:23:44,905 knows and cause a lot of damage. 444 00:23:46,663 --> 00:23:50,456 So they're a living, breathing, agile, 445 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,180 almost undetectable weapon 446 00:23:52,284 --> 00:23:54,180 that's gonna go exactly where you want 447 00:23:54,284 --> 00:23:55,801 them to go to achieve the effect 448 00:23:55,905 --> 00:23:56,801 you want to achieve. 449 00:24:02,836 --> 00:24:06,043 NARRATOR: Adams' team select the tiny Mexican free-tailed bat 450 00:24:06,146 --> 00:24:08,525 as their flying rodent of choice. 451 00:24:08,629 --> 00:24:11,111 They are a good choice, because you can fit 452 00:24:11,215 --> 00:24:13,801 a lot of them into one of these bombs. 453 00:24:13,905 --> 00:24:17,146 It was estimated that 10 planes could carry 454 00:24:17,249 --> 00:24:20,870 as many as two million bats in these bombs. 455 00:24:20,974 --> 00:24:23,491 NARRATOR: And these bats have one final advantage. 456 00:24:23,594 --> 00:24:27,422 When it gets cold, they enter a state known as torpor. 457 00:24:27,525 --> 00:24:29,698 BENECKE: In torpor, they're just very sleepy, 458 00:24:29,801 --> 00:24:32,663 they're not moving much, their body temperature is low, 459 00:24:32,767 --> 00:24:35,732 and they're just living on their body fat. 460 00:24:35,836 --> 00:24:38,318 NARRATOR: This is perfect for Adams' plan, 461 00:24:38,422 --> 00:24:40,663 because sleepy bats are easy to handle, 462 00:24:40,767 --> 00:24:43,629 arm, and load into the bomb casing. 463 00:24:43,732 --> 00:24:46,629 And they even set up a refrigerated truck to keep 464 00:24:46,732 --> 00:24:49,077 the bats in this hibernating state until they need to 465 00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:50,422 be deployed. 466 00:24:50,525 --> 00:24:52,146 NARRATOR: But Adams doesn't just need 467 00:24:52,249 --> 00:24:54,180 his tiny mission specialists. 468 00:24:54,284 --> 00:24:57,456 He needs a deadly payload for them. 469 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,111 MARKS: By chance, almost at exactly the same time, 470 00:25:01,215 --> 00:25:05,353 American chemist Louis Fieser invented a new substance, 471 00:25:05,456 --> 00:25:08,284 which was highly flammable, called napalm. 472 00:25:08,387 --> 00:25:10,387 One of the things that makes napalm a really 473 00:25:10,491 --> 00:25:14,008 good fire starter is that it's a jelly-like substance. 474 00:25:14,111 --> 00:25:18,698 Once it's on fire, it starts to run, and it flows down 475 00:25:18,801 --> 00:25:20,077 the surfaces of buildings, 476 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:22,111 and it gets into all of the nooks and crannies, 477 00:25:22,215 --> 00:25:23,974 and it really spreads the fire. 478 00:25:25,594 --> 00:25:27,491 NARRATOR: Adams and Fieser come up with a payload 479 00:25:27,594 --> 00:25:28,801 for the napalm containing 480 00:25:28,905 --> 00:25:31,387 a time delay fuse that can be stuck to the bats 481 00:25:31,491 --> 00:25:33,422 with adhesive. 482 00:25:33,525 --> 00:25:37,008 The biology and technology seemed to marry up perfectly, 483 00:25:38,146 --> 00:25:40,043 but will it actually work? 484 00:25:43,905 --> 00:25:46,318 NARRATOR: In 1943, bat bomb testing 485 00:25:46,422 --> 00:25:49,422 takes place in Carlsbad, New Mexico. 486 00:25:49,525 --> 00:25:51,663 They get a real prime spot -- 487 00:25:51,767 --> 00:25:55,077 the newly-constructed Carlsbad Air Force Base. 488 00:25:55,180 --> 00:25:57,870 Now, it's completely empty. It's not operational yet. 489 00:25:57,974 --> 00:26:00,215 So it's got everything, it's got hangars, 490 00:26:00,318 --> 00:26:02,387 control towers, barracks. 491 00:26:02,491 --> 00:26:05,249 But since they're a top secret operation, 492 00:26:05,353 --> 00:26:08,629 the bat bomb project gets the whole base to themselves. 493 00:26:10,043 --> 00:26:13,180 NARRATOR: Initial tests using dummy bombs are a success. 494 00:26:13,284 --> 00:26:15,008 AUERBACH: It works like a charm. 495 00:26:15,111 --> 00:26:18,008 They spend hours trying to find the bats they've released, 496 00:26:18,111 --> 00:26:21,387 and most of them end up in eaves under the buildings 497 00:26:21,491 --> 00:26:22,974 and barns and stuff all around the base, 498 00:26:23,077 --> 00:26:25,525 which is exactly what they wanted the bats to do. 499 00:26:25,629 --> 00:26:27,801 NARRATOR: It's going so well, they decide to produce 500 00:26:27,905 --> 00:26:29,629 a training film for the air crews 501 00:26:29,732 --> 00:26:31,525 that will actually drop the bat bombs. 502 00:26:31,629 --> 00:26:32,939 For the first time, 503 00:26:33,043 --> 00:26:35,836 they arm the bats with live incendiaries. 504 00:26:35,939 --> 00:26:39,111 So the bats are cooled, and they're supposed 505 00:26:39,215 --> 00:26:41,525 to be in this torporous state until they can raise 506 00:26:41,629 --> 00:26:43,560 their temperature and they wake up. 507 00:26:43,663 --> 00:26:45,284 But here's the problem -- 508 00:26:45,387 --> 00:26:47,905 they're at an air base in New Mexico, 509 00:26:48,008 --> 00:26:49,836 which is a very hot climate. 510 00:26:49,939 --> 00:26:53,456 Six of the armed bats wake up 511 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,663 and they do exactly what they're supposed to do. 512 00:26:55,767 --> 00:26:57,491 They fly off, looking for a place 513 00:26:57,594 --> 00:26:59,491 to roost, and where else to roost 514 00:26:59,594 --> 00:27:01,836 but under the eaves of this brand-new, 515 00:27:01,939 --> 00:27:04,146 otherwise abandoned air base. 516 00:27:04,249 --> 00:27:06,422 NARRATOR: Everything works according to plan, 517 00:27:06,525 --> 00:27:09,146 which is a pity, because they're not in Tokyo. 518 00:27:09,249 --> 00:27:11,215 They're in New Mexico. 519 00:27:11,318 --> 00:27:15,215 In a strange way, it works exactly as expected. 520 00:27:15,318 --> 00:27:16,387 The bats fly off. 521 00:27:16,491 --> 00:27:18,870 They roost under the eaves of the air base. 522 00:27:18,974 --> 00:27:20,663 The incendiary devices go off. 523 00:27:24,249 --> 00:27:26,698 And it burns the entire base to the ground. 524 00:27:28,215 --> 00:27:30,180 MARKS: Due to the top secret nature of the experiment, 525 00:27:30,284 --> 00:27:32,284 they're not even allowed to bring in fire crews to put 526 00:27:32,387 --> 00:27:34,560 the fire out -- they lose everything. 527 00:27:35,974 --> 00:27:39,491 NARRATOR: Safe to say the trials have not gone to plan. 528 00:27:39,594 --> 00:27:42,698 So is this the end of the bat bomb? 529 00:27:53,836 --> 00:27:55,767 NARRATOR: After a disastrous test burns 530 00:27:55,870 --> 00:27:57,698 an American air base to the ground, 531 00:27:57,801 --> 00:28:00,077 It looks like curtains for the bat bomb, 532 00:28:00,180 --> 00:28:03,249 but the bats get a reprieve. 533 00:28:03,353 --> 00:28:07,422 In 1943, the Army passed the project to the Marines. 534 00:28:07,525 --> 00:28:09,974 AUERBACH: The bat bomb concept clearly works, 535 00:28:10,077 --> 00:28:12,870 and it only cost them one new airbase to prove it. 536 00:28:12,974 --> 00:28:16,146 They decided to go ahead with the full-scale testing of 537 00:28:16,249 --> 00:28:19,663 the project, and then, unexpectedly, in 1944, 538 00:28:19,767 --> 00:28:21,318 the whole thing gets shut down. 539 00:28:22,732 --> 00:28:24,663 NARRATOR: By this point, the project has already 540 00:28:24,767 --> 00:28:26,353 burned through one brand-new air base 541 00:28:26,456 --> 00:28:28,560 and $2 million dollars, 542 00:28:28,663 --> 00:28:32,111 but is it actually cost that cans the bat bomb? 543 00:28:34,732 --> 00:28:38,939 The real reason is what, on paper, looks like an even more 544 00:28:39,043 --> 00:28:41,663 outlandish concept than the bat bomb -- 545 00:28:41,767 --> 00:28:45,043 harnessing the energy of the sun 546 00:28:45,146 --> 00:28:47,456 in a small bomb to devastating effect. 547 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:48,629 And we're talking here, of course, 548 00:28:48,732 --> 00:28:50,043 about the Manhattan Project. 549 00:28:53,318 --> 00:28:55,698 NARRATOR: In 1944, despite the fact that 550 00:28:55,801 --> 00:28:59,318 it actually works, the bat bomb is canned, 551 00:28:59,422 --> 00:29:01,180 which probably comes as a big 552 00:29:01,284 --> 00:29:03,767 relief to the Mexican free-tailed bats. 553 00:29:14,077 --> 00:29:16,663 In a small glass cabinet at the British Museum 554 00:29:16,767 --> 00:29:20,318 in London is a curious object made from reindeer antler. 555 00:29:20,422 --> 00:29:24,801 It was crafted during the last great Ice Age. 556 00:29:24,905 --> 00:29:26,491 It is truly ancient. 557 00:29:28,422 --> 00:29:32,180 This object dates back almost 10,000 years, 558 00:29:32,284 --> 00:29:34,422 before the pyramids of dynastic Egypt. 559 00:29:35,939 --> 00:29:38,043 NARRATOR: Now, using cutting-edge technology, 560 00:29:38,146 --> 00:29:40,043 we can bring it into the light. 561 00:29:45,525 --> 00:29:47,629 It measures 6 and 1/2 inches long 562 00:29:47,732 --> 00:29:50,180 by just over 2 inches wide. 563 00:29:50,284 --> 00:29:52,905 On the front is the unmistakable image of 564 00:29:53,008 --> 00:29:55,008 a galloping horse. 565 00:29:55,111 --> 00:29:58,215 There are signs of use and wear both across the surfaces 566 00:29:58,318 --> 00:29:59,939 and inside the hole. 567 00:30:00,043 --> 00:30:03,284 We see scratches and chips 568 00:30:03,387 --> 00:30:05,732 and evidence that there is an object 569 00:30:05,836 --> 00:30:08,939 that was actively and repetitively used. 570 00:30:09,043 --> 00:30:12,215 But the question then becomes, How was it used? 571 00:30:12,318 --> 00:30:13,387 What was its function? 572 00:30:14,732 --> 00:30:15,767 NARRATOR: Who made it? 573 00:30:15,870 --> 00:30:17,939 What secrets does it hold about 574 00:30:18,043 --> 00:30:19,284 our distant past? 575 00:30:19,387 --> 00:30:20,732 Is it a piece of art, 576 00:30:20,836 --> 00:30:24,491 a symbol of power, or something else entirely? 577 00:30:29,215 --> 00:30:31,594 1863. 578 00:30:31,698 --> 00:30:33,008 France. 579 00:30:35,732 --> 00:30:37,974 On the edge of the Vézère River, 580 00:30:38,077 --> 00:30:40,146 paleontologist EÉdouard Lartet 581 00:30:40,249 --> 00:30:42,974 and Englishman Henry Christy stumble across a cave. 582 00:30:45,043 --> 00:30:48,008 The site, known Abri de la Madeleine, 583 00:30:48,111 --> 00:30:51,387 turns out to be a unique window into Stone Age life. 584 00:30:51,491 --> 00:30:53,870 In the coarse way of that time, hacking about 585 00:30:53,974 --> 00:30:56,043 with shovels and picks, 586 00:30:56,146 --> 00:30:58,974 they made some remarkable discoveries. 587 00:30:59,077 --> 00:31:01,284 NARRATOR: They uncover flint blades, 588 00:31:01,387 --> 00:31:04,560 spear points, and numerous bone artifacts, 589 00:31:04,663 --> 00:31:07,525 and this strange thing. 590 00:31:07,629 --> 00:31:11,008 MacDONALD: The object was remarkable for its form, 591 00:31:11,111 --> 00:31:12,767 which was unusual, 592 00:31:12,870 --> 00:31:15,111 with its large central perforation, 593 00:31:15,215 --> 00:31:18,318 but also because of the very naturalistic rendering of 594 00:31:18,422 --> 00:31:22,008 a horse engraved onto the object. 595 00:31:22,111 --> 00:31:24,560 NARRATOR: Finds like this and others in the cave 596 00:31:24,663 --> 00:31:27,353 are unlike any other ancient human artifacts 597 00:31:27,456 --> 00:31:28,663 discovered before. 598 00:31:29,870 --> 00:31:32,491 This site represented a whole new, 599 00:31:32,594 --> 00:31:34,870 previously unknown culture, 600 00:31:34,974 --> 00:31:35,732 the Magdalenian. 601 00:31:37,836 --> 00:31:40,008 NARRATOR: The Magdalenian peoples lived during the last 602 00:31:40,111 --> 00:31:44,974 great Ice Age, between 17,000 and 11,000 years ago. 603 00:31:45,077 --> 00:31:47,456 The strange carved antler dates to around 604 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,077 14,000 years ago. 605 00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:53,318 To work out what this is, we need to understand the people 606 00:31:53,422 --> 00:31:54,318 who created it. 607 00:31:54,422 --> 00:31:57,180 Who are the Magdalenians? 608 00:32:02,077 --> 00:32:04,491 The Stone Age world is often depicted as crude 609 00:32:04,594 --> 00:32:05,767 and simplistic, 610 00:32:05,870 --> 00:32:07,870 but in the case of the Magdalenians 611 00:32:07,974 --> 00:32:10,111 nothing could be further from the truth. 612 00:32:11,456 --> 00:32:13,525 PLUMMER SIRES: This was a very sophisticated culture. 613 00:32:13,629 --> 00:32:17,905 They had a range of specialized tools based on 614 00:32:18,008 --> 00:32:19,008 the types of activities that 615 00:32:19,111 --> 00:32:22,939 they were undertaking -- spears, harpoons, snares. 616 00:32:23,043 --> 00:32:25,318 They were very attuned to their surroundings, and they 617 00:32:25,422 --> 00:32:28,594 hunted herd animals, like bison, horses, and reindeer. 618 00:32:28,698 --> 00:32:31,422 NARRATOR: So it's no surprise that something made from 619 00:32:31,525 --> 00:32:35,353 reindeer is a perfect example of Magdalenian craftsmanship. 620 00:32:39,043 --> 00:32:41,215 The reindeer clearly was central to 621 00:32:41,318 --> 00:32:42,732 the life of the Magdalenians. 622 00:32:42,836 --> 00:32:45,732 It was a food source, but they made use of the antlers, 623 00:32:45,836 --> 00:32:48,249 as well, either from those carcasses 624 00:32:48,353 --> 00:32:51,111 that they hunted or when the animals 625 00:32:51,215 --> 00:32:53,629 would shed them seasonally. 626 00:32:53,732 --> 00:32:55,870 NARRATOR: The first step in the process of making 627 00:32:55,974 --> 00:32:57,560 this strange thing is to reduce 628 00:32:57,663 --> 00:32:59,939 the antler to the required size. 629 00:33:01,732 --> 00:33:05,560 A key tool employed by these ancient craftsmen is the burin. 630 00:33:06,836 --> 00:33:08,836 PLUMMER SIRES: A burin is a type of stone tool 631 00:33:08,939 --> 00:33:11,663 with very fine edges, almost like a chisel. 632 00:33:11,767 --> 00:33:15,284 It's used to either engrave or gouge 633 00:33:15,387 --> 00:33:16,560 holes into things. 634 00:33:16,663 --> 00:33:19,146 NARRATOR: Burins made from hard local stones like flint 635 00:33:19,249 --> 00:33:22,077 and chert are used to shape and cut the baton. 636 00:33:22,180 --> 00:33:24,146 MacDONALD: So the way that we think this is done 637 00:33:24,249 --> 00:33:26,491 is by using a tool like a burin 638 00:33:26,594 --> 00:33:29,353 and engraving a line where you want to make a break 639 00:33:29,456 --> 00:33:32,043 or separation before striking a blow, 640 00:33:32,146 --> 00:33:34,249 which will crack off the bit that you don't want. 641 00:33:36,732 --> 00:33:38,353 NARRATOR: The distinctive hole in the center 642 00:33:38,456 --> 00:33:40,215 uses a different process. 643 00:33:42,353 --> 00:33:45,353 MacDONALD: Stone tools would be used boring down from both 644 00:33:45,456 --> 00:33:47,387 directions across the antler to 645 00:33:47,491 --> 00:33:51,180 create a kind of hourglass cross-section, and then once 646 00:33:51,284 --> 00:33:53,353 that hourglass shape was achieved, 647 00:33:53,456 --> 00:33:56,939 it would be scraped and smoothed out until you began to 648 00:33:57,043 --> 00:34:01,732 get a more even perforation like we see on this object. 649 00:34:01,836 --> 00:34:04,284 NARRATOR: The most difficult and time-consuming process 650 00:34:04,387 --> 00:34:07,387 is likely the raised engraving of the horse. 651 00:34:07,491 --> 00:34:10,077 MacDONALD: The area of the body of the horse would have been 652 00:34:10,180 --> 00:34:12,111 initially smoothed to get rid 653 00:34:12,215 --> 00:34:14,491 of the irregularity of the antler, 654 00:34:14,594 --> 00:34:17,077 but then the central portion of the body would have been 655 00:34:17,180 --> 00:34:19,939 left raised to add to the effect. 656 00:34:20,043 --> 00:34:22,043 NARRATOR: The material from around the horse is then 657 00:34:22,146 --> 00:34:26,008 carefully removed, a painstaking and laborious job. 658 00:34:26,111 --> 00:34:29,387 This is unusual, because most of the other Magdalenian 659 00:34:29,491 --> 00:34:31,698 representations we have of animals 660 00:34:31,801 --> 00:34:36,008 are simply carved into a surface rather than using 661 00:34:36,111 --> 00:34:38,491 this more three-dimensional approach. 662 00:34:40,422 --> 00:34:43,284 NARRATOR: Everything about the object suggests it is special. 663 00:34:44,525 --> 00:34:46,594 So what is it for? 664 00:34:56,663 --> 00:34:58,732 NARRATOR: What is the purpose of this astonishing 665 00:34:58,836 --> 00:35:02,353 14,000-year-old object carved from reindeer antler? 666 00:35:03,594 --> 00:35:05,974 The archaeologists who discover it certainly 667 00:35:06,077 --> 00:35:07,525 think they know. 668 00:35:07,629 --> 00:35:09,801 BELLINGER: Because of the decorative element 669 00:35:09,905 --> 00:35:11,939 of this thing, when they first found it, 670 00:35:12,043 --> 00:35:15,629 they interpret it as some sort of symbol of authority, 671 00:35:15,732 --> 00:35:16,905 like a scepter. 672 00:35:17,008 --> 00:35:18,732 They called it a bâtons de commandement. 673 00:35:20,974 --> 00:35:23,249 NARRATOR: Examples of similar objects are present in 674 00:35:23,353 --> 00:35:25,905 many different cultures from across the globe, 675 00:35:27,284 --> 00:35:30,043 but there's a major stumbling block to this explanation. 676 00:35:32,215 --> 00:35:34,663 As time has gone on, archaeologists 677 00:35:34,767 --> 00:35:37,318 have found more than 400 of these objects. 678 00:35:37,422 --> 00:35:41,836 How can you have an object that is meant for the leader 679 00:35:41,939 --> 00:35:45,111 of a small-scale hunter-gatherer society 680 00:35:45,215 --> 00:35:47,836 and yet have 400 of them? 681 00:35:47,939 --> 00:35:50,491 This simply doesn't make sense 682 00:35:50,594 --> 00:35:52,456 and places this object more within 683 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,663 the realm of everyday functional items. 684 00:35:56,318 --> 00:35:59,939 NARRATOR: So is it some kind of utility object, a tool? 685 00:36:00,043 --> 00:36:02,801 If we look at the wear on this object, 686 00:36:02,905 --> 00:36:07,594 we see scratches and chips and evidence that it is 687 00:36:07,698 --> 00:36:11,456 an object that was actively and repetitively used. 688 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,732 But the question then becomes, how was it used? 689 00:36:14,836 --> 00:36:16,974 What was its function? 690 00:36:17,077 --> 00:36:19,318 NARRATOR: It's tricky to answer this question, because 691 00:36:19,422 --> 00:36:22,732 the ragged end of the baton suggests it is broken. 692 00:36:24,698 --> 00:36:29,870 But, using 3D imaging, we can rebuild the damaged section. 693 00:36:29,974 --> 00:36:34,284 This is how it may have looked when it was first made, 694 00:36:34,387 --> 00:36:36,422 14,000 years ago. 695 00:36:37,870 --> 00:36:40,801 MacDONALD: Originally would have been around 12 inches long, 696 00:36:40,905 --> 00:36:44,594 so we're missing part of its shaft, 697 00:36:44,698 --> 00:36:47,491 which might have been lost in the process of use. 698 00:36:51,387 --> 00:36:54,284 BELLINGER: One early thought was that this object might be 699 00:36:54,387 --> 00:36:57,215 a harness of some kind to use with an animal. 700 00:36:57,318 --> 00:36:59,905 But there's a real problem with that, 701 00:37:00,008 --> 00:37:02,422 which is that animals weren't domesticated 702 00:37:02,525 --> 00:37:04,387 for another 10,000 years. 703 00:37:06,491 --> 00:37:09,387 NARRATOR: So if not a harness, then what? 704 00:37:10,870 --> 00:37:14,215 Analysis of the holes in 135 of these batons 705 00:37:14,318 --> 00:37:17,146 reveal strange wear marks symmetrically opposite 706 00:37:17,249 --> 00:37:18,836 each other. 707 00:37:18,939 --> 00:37:22,180 Asymmetric wear suggested another use, 708 00:37:22,284 --> 00:37:23,594 as a spear straightener. 709 00:37:23,698 --> 00:37:26,422 So if you have a shaft of a spear with a curve, 710 00:37:26,525 --> 00:37:29,146 you would put it through the hole, and then you could 711 00:37:29,249 --> 00:37:32,353 pull towards yourself to straighten out that bend 712 00:37:32,456 --> 00:37:35,491 and creating that distinctive wear pattern. 713 00:37:35,594 --> 00:37:38,422 NARRATOR: This fits with other archaeological finds, 714 00:37:38,525 --> 00:37:41,008 such as the Murray Springs shaft wrench, 715 00:37:41,111 --> 00:37:43,249 a spear straightener from the North American 716 00:37:43,353 --> 00:37:46,939 Clovis culture, dating back to around 11,000 BCE. 717 00:37:48,836 --> 00:37:51,111 But this is far from the only theory. 718 00:37:52,422 --> 00:37:55,318 Another idea is that this was a form of spear thrower. 719 00:37:56,491 --> 00:37:58,525 NARRATOR: Known in some cultures as atlatls, 720 00:37:58,629 --> 00:38:01,698 spear throwers were used by many peoples, from the Mayans 721 00:38:01,801 --> 00:38:06,077 and Aztecs to Native Americans and Australian Aboriginals. 722 00:38:06,180 --> 00:38:10,318 A spear thrower effectively lengthens your arm span, 723 00:38:10,422 --> 00:38:15,008 and so it gives you a great deal more leverage to add speed 724 00:38:15,111 --> 00:38:17,353 and accuracy to your throw, 725 00:38:17,456 --> 00:38:19,836 and that makes your spear all the more lethal. 726 00:38:21,146 --> 00:38:25,491 A harness, a shaft straightener, a spear thrower? 727 00:38:25,594 --> 00:38:28,146 To date, an incredible 40 different theories have 728 00:38:28,249 --> 00:38:31,836 been proposed for the purpose of this strange thing. 729 00:38:31,939 --> 00:38:33,560 Which one is correct? 730 00:38:33,663 --> 00:38:36,767 It's generally accepted today that this baton 731 00:38:36,870 --> 00:38:39,560 didn't have one use, it didn't have two uses, 732 00:38:39,663 --> 00:38:41,525 it had multiple uses, 733 00:38:41,629 --> 00:38:45,422 You could call it the Swiss Army knife of prehistory. 734 00:38:45,525 --> 00:38:48,663 NARRATOR: This is a 14,000-year-old multi-tool, 735 00:38:48,767 --> 00:38:51,456 but if it's simply a utilitarian tool, 736 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,180 why has so much effort been poured into decorating it? 737 00:39:00,870 --> 00:39:03,870 The Magdalenian is not extraordinary just 738 00:39:03,974 --> 00:39:07,249 for their technologies and their tools and weapons. 739 00:39:07,353 --> 00:39:11,525 They created some of the most beautiful prehistoric art 740 00:39:11,629 --> 00:39:13,387 that's been discovered to date 741 00:39:13,491 --> 00:39:17,491 in the form of beautiful carvings and wall paintings of 742 00:39:17,594 --> 00:39:19,939 bison and wooly mammoth. 743 00:39:20,043 --> 00:39:22,905 PLUMMER SIRES: And these are really the types of art that 744 00:39:23,008 --> 00:39:25,387 show you that they weren't just surviving in 745 00:39:25,491 --> 00:39:27,422 their environment, they were thriving. 746 00:39:29,146 --> 00:39:31,249 NARRATOR: And experts now believe that when 747 00:39:31,353 --> 00:39:32,974 this baton is first made, 748 00:39:33,077 --> 00:39:35,905 the exquisite horse carved on its surface 749 00:39:36,008 --> 00:39:37,732 would not have been the only one. 750 00:39:38,939 --> 00:39:41,215 There may have even been, originally, 751 00:39:41,318 --> 00:39:43,353 a second horse on this object. 752 00:39:45,111 --> 00:39:47,111 NARRATOR: Why did these ancient craftsmen 753 00:39:47,215 --> 00:39:48,456 go to all this effort? 754 00:39:50,974 --> 00:39:55,215 You know, what is art doing on a functional tool? 755 00:39:56,698 --> 00:39:58,043 NARRATOR: And why a horse? 756 00:39:59,939 --> 00:40:02,456 BELLINGER: Clearly, the horse was very important 757 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:03,663 to these people. 758 00:40:03,767 --> 00:40:05,560 Was it a key source of food? 759 00:40:05,663 --> 00:40:07,870 Did they venerate it for some reason 760 00:40:07,974 --> 00:40:10,111 to do with their religious ideology? 761 00:40:11,456 --> 00:40:12,353 Who knows? 762 00:40:13,491 --> 00:40:15,387 NARRATOR: Detailed inspection suggests 763 00:40:15,491 --> 00:40:18,491 one tantalizing possible explanation. 764 00:40:18,594 --> 00:40:21,836 Look closely, and you can see small marks 765 00:40:21,939 --> 00:40:26,698 behind the horse's shoulder, marks that shouldn't be there. 766 00:40:26,801 --> 00:40:27,905 BELLINGER: There's a small mark on 767 00:40:28,008 --> 00:40:31,008 the horse that otherwise is so lifelike, 768 00:40:31,111 --> 00:40:34,974 but this mark is not anatomically correct, and it's 769 00:40:35,077 --> 00:40:37,836 in just a spot that makes you wonder, 770 00:40:37,939 --> 00:40:41,387 is it almost a diagram directing your spear to hit 771 00:40:41,491 --> 00:40:44,491 right there, and that'll be the lethal shot? 772 00:40:45,698 --> 00:40:48,146 Comparing these notches against the anatomy 773 00:40:48,249 --> 00:40:49,318 of a horse reveals 774 00:40:49,422 --> 00:40:51,939 they are directly positioned over the heart. 775 00:40:54,146 --> 00:40:57,215 And other artifacts from this period also appear to display 776 00:40:57,318 --> 00:40:59,525 the same kind of marks that could indicate 777 00:40:59,629 --> 00:41:01,180 a lethal spear strike. 778 00:41:02,525 --> 00:41:05,146 Whatever the exact purpose of the intricate carving, 779 00:41:05,249 --> 00:41:07,422 it tells us something important. 780 00:41:07,525 --> 00:41:11,284 These people had enough time on their hands for decoration. 781 00:41:11,387 --> 00:41:14,043 BELLINGER: Clearly, they're not people living on the edge 782 00:41:14,146 --> 00:41:15,663 of starvation. 783 00:41:15,767 --> 00:41:20,629 There's time to devote to the pursuit of art. 784 00:41:20,732 --> 00:41:23,767 NARRATOR: But quite suddenly, around 11,000 years ago, 785 00:41:23,870 --> 00:41:26,698 the Magdalenian vanish from history. 786 00:41:26,801 --> 00:41:30,767 This was the end of the last Ice Age, when the climate 787 00:41:30,870 --> 00:41:32,008 changed drastically, 788 00:41:32,111 --> 00:41:34,698 and a lot of the large animals that they were hunting 789 00:41:34,801 --> 00:41:35,939 became extinct. 790 00:41:37,353 --> 00:41:39,353 These were major changes. 791 00:41:39,456 --> 00:41:41,387 They just weren't able to adjust to it. 792 00:41:43,767 --> 00:41:44,663 And they disappeared. 793 00:41:50,801 --> 00:41:52,560 NARRATOR: When the Magdalenian vanish, 794 00:41:52,663 --> 00:41:56,456 so does their wonderful and sophisticated art. 795 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:01,698 But this astonishing artifact remains, one of the oldest 796 00:42:01,801 --> 00:42:02,767 and most beautiful multi-tools ever found.